Why “talents” choose to remain in cities:
the case of Gothenburg
Department of Business Administration Marketing Bachelor thesis
Spring 2015
Authors Andersson, Emelie
Törneman, Ebba
Tutors Armbrecht, John
Lundberg, Erik
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Abstract
Title: Why “talents” choose to remain in cities: the case of Gothenburg Authors: Andersson, Emelie & Törneman, Ebba
Tutors: Armbrecht, John & Lundberg, Erik
Background and problem: For a long time, natural resources and business investments has been seen as the key to regional economic growth. However, there has been a shift in modern research, highlighting the importance of human capital in order to achieve economic growth.
Accordingly, theories suggesting that educated people, or “talents”, are a valuable asset in order to stimulate innovations and new ideas have been presented. Cities need to meet the demands of this target group and accordingly understand why they choose to stay or migrate to another place.
Purpose: The purpose is to examine why “talent” choose to remain in cities. As a result, this report will present and explain the most important factors, important to “talents”, when choosing to remain in a city.
Method: A qualitative method has been used in order to answer the research question. Semi- structured interviews have been carried out in order to collect the empirical data. Further, the research material have been linked and compared to the frame of reference.
Results and conclusion: It appeared to be four key concepts, quality of life, quality of work, quality of place and place attachment explaining why young female “talents” decide to stay in cities. It appeared that interpersonal relations were the major reason for them to stay.
Moreover, this study seems to be in line with earlier research, claiming quality of place to be a central factor in “talents” localisation decision making process.
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Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ... 4
1.2 Problem ... 5
1.3 Research question ... 5
1.4 Purpose ... 6
1.5 Limitations of the study ... 6
1.6 Managerial contribution ... 6
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 7
2.1 Knowledge Economy ... 7
2.2 Human Capital ... 9
2.3 Urban amenities and the ”competition for talent” ... 9
2.4 Cultural capital ... 10
2.5 Social capital ... 11
2.6 Concepts explaining retention and migration decisions ... 12
2.7 Quality of Place ... 12
2.7.1 Diversity, Talent, Technology ... 13
2.7.2 Specific amenities, Environment sustainability and Aesthetics ... 13
2.7.3 Liveliness, Culture ... 14
2.7.4 Creativity, Bohemia ... 14
2.7.5 Safety ... 14
2.8 Place attachment ... 14
2.9 Quality of work ... 15
2.10 Quality of Life ... 15
2.11 Summary - frame of references ... 17
3. METHODOLOGY ... 18
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3.1 Research method ... 18
3.1.1 Qualitative method ... 18
3.2 Developing the theoretical framework ... 19
3.3 Data collection ... 19
3.3.1 Primary data ... 19
3.4 Sample ... 20
3.5 Information evaluation ... 22
3.6 Credibility ... 22
4. EMPIRICAL DATA AND ANALYSIS ... 24
4.1 Interpersonal relationships ... 24
4.1.1 Family ... 24
4.1.2 Friends ... 25
4.2 Urban amenities ... 26
4.3 Safety ... 28
4.4 Education and Career ... 30
4.5 Activities ... 31
4.6 Independence and self-fulfilment ... 32
5. CONCLUSION ... 34
5.1 Contribution ... 35
5.2 Further research ... 36
6. REFERENCE LIST ... 37
6.1 Literature ... 37
6.2 Respondents ... 40
7. APPENDIX ... 41
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1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the topic of this study. Further, background information and purpose are presented, followed by the research question that is being analysed.
Also, limitations are presented, giving the reader an overview of what will be presented in the following chapters.
Today, more than half the world's population lives in cities (United Nations, 2015). The demand for urban lifestyles has never ever been greater, neither have the competition to be the most attractive place (Moilanen & Rainisto, 2009). Accordingly, cities in the world try to attract businesses, investments and labour. It has long been said that attracting business is the key to urban economic growth. Businesses have been explained as the key to innovation and attracting talented people to look for employment (Darnton & Manning, 2006). However, there has been a shift in the way research explain urban economic development, shifting from business to instead attracting educated people to settle and retain in the city (Florida, 2002).
Before, cities needed to meet the demands of businesses, looking over cost- related factors like taxes in order to attract investments. However, today cities need to act differently and meet the demands of the people, in order to stay competitive. It is said to be clusters of
educated people in an area which draws companies to invest, rather than the opposite (Florida, 2002).
Theories discussing the importance of human capital is, however, nothing new. Labour has always been seen as a component in economic growth. Although, modern research highlights the importance of the “educated human capital” (Darnton & Manning, 2006). Florida (2002) states that it is the so called “creative class”, and in particular “talents”, which cities should try to attract in order to stimulate metropolitan economic growth (Florida, 2002). The creative class is explained to be people with traditional creative jobs but also scientists and business managers. Further, the “creative class”, in particular “talents”, are a desirable group for cities in the world, accordingly making it highly important to retain them in the city (Florida, 2006).
Moreover, knowing what attracts this group of people is essential in order for cities to be attractive and retain competent people (Florida, 2006). Today it is easy for people to find
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information about where in the world, in which city, they can fulfil their dreams and ideas of a good life. Internet and modern transportation have made us mobile and enlightened about what cities around the world have to offer. Some value for example education, culture, work or start a family (Rogerson, 1998). Florida’s (2002) theories explains what the “creative class”
and “talents”, in particular, look for when they choose where to stay, suggesting that the quality of a place is the most important factor affecting their choice. Other studies have evaluated concepts like quality of life and quality of work (Darchen & Trembley, 2010;
Florida, 2002). Also, place attachment has been stated to affect the decision to stay and not to migrate (Lewicka, 2011). In order for cities to be competitive and attract the right capital, cities need to be smart. Meaning that cities need to be promoted just like companies have been branded in the past. A clear identity, communicating the right message and meeting the
demands of the target group (Moilanen & Rainisto, 2009). To know what the target group wants is essential.
1.2 Problem
Today cities are competing about residents, particularly attracting the most competent humans or "talents" (Florida, 2002). Accordingly, this situation is problematic for cities and
destination marketing organizations, trying to stay competitive. Even though social scientists and economists have put much emphasis on evaluating what attracts businesses to an area, less is focused on what attracts human capital (Florida, 2002). Moreover, accepting Florida’s (2002) ideas about attracting “talents” as one important key to economic growth, raises questions about how cities can stay attractive to this target group (Florida, 2002). Further, retaining competent people in cities is not an easy task. People in general are aware of what other cities offer and are highly mobile, meaning that talented people will not necessarily stay in a region if it does not meet their demands (Florida, 2006).
1.3 Research question
Accordingly, a research questions has been identified, highly relevant to the report:
- Why do “talents” choose to remain in a city?
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1.4 Purpose
The purpose is to examine why “talents” choose to remain in cities. As a result, this report will present and explain the most important factors, important to “talents”, when choosing to remain in a city.
1.5 Limitations of the study
This study evaluates why “talents” choose to stay in cities. The term “talents” include different nationalities, ages, ethnicities and genders (Florida, 2002). However, this report focuses on young female students aged 20-25, studying a bachelor program in economics or business at Gothenburg University of Business, Economics and Law. All the respondents are also selected because the criteria that they were born in Gothenburg.
The geographical limit of this study includes “talents” brought up in the Gothenburg region and now living in Gothenburg. In this study, Gothenburg is considered as “Storgöteborg” as the definition includes adjoining municipalities of the city (Vårt Göteborg, 2005). Statistics show that Swedish "talents" are situated in cities with large universities, leaving Uppsala at the top. Out of all Swedish cities, Gothenburg is ranked number 5, with 60.000 students living in the city (Florida, Tinagli, Ström & Wahlqvist, 2007; Goteborg & Co., 2015). Further, the number of creative people seem to increase in the Gothenburg region, which the city need to take advantage of. A further explanation about the target group and geographical limit can be found in chapter 3.
1.6 Managerial contribution
Although, there are studies highlighting factors important to the “creative class” when choosing where to settle, there are still interesting aspects left to evaluate (Florida, 2002).
Discussing the topic with Gothenburg & Co, the main marketing organisation of Gothenburg, it appeared to be of interest to evaluate why “talents”, young female students in particular, chose to remain in Gothenburg. Moreover, the identified key factors explaining their decision to stay, can be used by marketing agencies (for example Gothenburg & Co) to understand which components should be emphasized when marketing Gothenburg to this specific target group.
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2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter provides an overview on earlier studies made on the subject. The first part presents new aspects of regional economic growth, explaining the importance of human capital. Further, acknowledge theories and concepts are explained in order to examine influential factors affecting retention or migration decisions. Also, a summary of the theoretical framework is presented.
As highlighted in the background, destination marketing agencies are competing for people to retain and to move to their city (Moilanen & Rainisto, 2009). The reason for this is that people, and especially educated people, are seen as one key to regional economic growth, especially by researchers like Florida (2002) (Darnton & Manning, 2006; Florida, 2002).
Accordingly, young female students, included in the concept of "talents", are a desirable resource to cities (Florida, 2010). It is vital that cities evaluate concepts like quality of place, place attachment, quality of work and quality of life, in order to understand why young female students choose to remain or leave for another place (Florida, 2002; Darchen & Trembley, 2010; Lewicka, 2010).
2.1 Knowledge Economy
There has been a shift in how scientists explain economic growth in cities (Darnton &
Manning, 2006). The industrial society has moved towards a society mainly based on
services, which has created new aspects about how cities should be competitive (Trips, 2007).
For a long time, researchers like Porter (2000) have highlighted physical inputs like natural resources and businesses as the the key to developing place (Darnton & Manning, 2006;
Florida, 2006; Porter, 2000). Porter (2000) among others, have highlighted the importance of for example clusters, which has been widely used to explain economic development (Darnton
& Manning, 2006; Porter, 2006). Porter (2000) describes clusters as interconnected areas where firms, specialized in the same field, on one hand compete but also benefit from one another (Porter, 2000). This theory describes how companies can benefit competitive
advantages from choice of location (Porter, 2000). Cluster areas like the one in Silicon Valley (Bresnahan, Gabardella, & Saxenian, 2001), are real examples which shows how companies and institutions can benefit from clusters and create positive economic development.
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However, other researchers such as Florida (2002), differs from Porter's theory of economic growth through investments in corporate establishment (Darnton & Manning, 2006; Florida, 2002). Due to new technological inventions such as the computer and internet, urban welfare depend more on technological solutions, controlled by human knowledge (Snellman &
Walter, 2004). It has therefore, in recent decades, been a shift from physical inputs to human inputs (Florida, 2006). This has created terms like "knowledge based economy" defined by Snellman and Walter (2004) as /.../ production and services based on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technical and scientific advance, as well as rapid obsolescence” (Snellman & Walter, 2004, 204). Meaning that are “greater reliance on intellectual capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources” (Snellman & Walter, 2004, 1). Researchers like Snellman and Walter (2004) and Florida (2002) mean that human capital is the key factor to achieve economic growth. Florida (2002) states that it is people that should be seen as the most valuable resource creating economic growth . Moreover, cities need to attract this group of people in order to achieve economic development (Darnton &
Manning, 2006; Florida, 2002; Snellman & Walter, 2004). However, critics have expressed that policy makers in both U.S. and Europe have been swayed by Florida's (2002) ideas.
Meaning that they too easily have accepted the thesis about the creative people to be of importance for economic growth (Peck, 2001; Trip, 2007). Nevertheless, Florida’s (2010) thesis does not entirely take away traditional aspects of economic growth, like the importance of business establishment in a place. It is, however, a reverse approach to urban economic growth where Porter's (2000) ideas of business being the prior focus are challenged by researchers like Florida (2010), stating that companies establish themselves where they know they can find skilled workers (Florida, 2010; Porter, 2000).
The term "knowledge economy" was already used in the 60’s, arising from new innovations and is also referred to as the "Internet economy" or by Florida (2006) the "Creative Economy"
(Florida, 2006; Snellman & Walter, 2004). Consequently, models analysing theories about innovation, information and knowledge have been debated terms to describe the causes to regional economic growth (Trip, 2007). However, during the past years the evaluation of human capital, social capital and urban amenities have become highly relevant to explain the role of human factors as the foundation to economic growth in cities (Darnton & Manning, 2006). Indeed, due to Florida’s (2002) research which has developed from the theory of human capital and urban amenities, concepts highly applicable to the thesis of this study (Darnton & Manning, 2006; Florida, 2002).
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2.2 Human Capital
Florida's (2002) ideas about the creative class originates from the theory of human capital.
This concept is central in order to understand the importance of keeping human competence in the city and preventing migration. Further, the theory of human capital is highlighting human competence as the key to financial success (Darnton & Manning, 2006; Florida, 2002).
This is, in itself, nothing new since labour has been considered a contributing factor to productivity for a long time. However, in this context, it is not labour itself which is
important, but the educated labour force (Darnton & Manning, 2006). The explanation for this is that educated people can implement, execute and come up with new technological
solutions, which are to a greater extent affecting positive economic development (Benhabib, 1994). By accepting human capital as a key factor for regional economic growth, there are more aspects to be taken into account. Research has analysed not only the importance of education, but the quality of the educated people (Darnton & Manning, 2006). Accordingly, Florida (2006) claims that the key to economic growth lies in the "three Ts": technology, talent and tolerance (Florida, 2006). In this context, talent is explained as people with a bachelor’s degree or higher, which are said to generate high human capital (Florida, 2002).
The author argues that successful sites have encouraged these three things, and especially put emphasis on retaining "talents" in the city. The latter concept focuses on the importance of attracting qualified people to settle in the city and to maintain them. Universities are therefore key components to stimulate innovations that can strengthen the existing production and business activities, or invent new ideas (Florida, 2006).
2.3 Urban amenities and the ”competition for talent”
The human capital theory focuses on the importance of keeping and attracting educated people in a region, in order to stimulate the economy. Additionally, there is further aspects of the human capital theory that should be taken into account in order to highlight what attracts and retain this group of people. Therefore, research has put much emphasis on the importance of quality of place, or urban amenities, to create economic growth in a region. Meaning that places need to meet current demands of the educated people to choose to remain in the city or to attract new educated people to the place (Darnton & Manning, 2006).
The importance of for example lively cultural life, cafes, shops and other events to create attractive cities in an increasingly competitive situation has been demonstrated by many
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researchers (Zukin, 1998). Florida (2002) is one of the most influential scientist who sympathizes with the ideas that quality of place is the key factor to attract educated human capital, in order to achieve economic growth (Florida, 2002). Moreover, Florida et al. (2007) introduces the idea of the “creative class”, consisting of the classic creative vocation as designers and musicians but also people with higher education like scientists engineers, and knowledge-based professionals including for example financial services and business
management (Florida, 2002; Florida et al. 2007). For this reason, human politicians and city planners should try to attract and retain the so-called “creative class” or “talents” in cities (Florida, 2002). Studies have shown that in Sweden, 35% of the Swedish population are involved in creative work and therefore can be counted to the "creative class". Furthermore, 60 % live in Stockholms län, Skåne län and Västra Götalands län (Florida et al. , 2007).
The competition for human capital has increased because of globalization where people are highly mobile and informed about what other places have to offer (Florida, 2006).
Accordingly, Florida (2002) says that previously models where the focus has been on creating clusters like in Silicon Valley, as previously mentioned, is no longer applicable in today's society. To emulate such an area is glorifying models from the past. Instead of only focusing on developing good business climates, cities should develop excellent "people climate" that attracts and retains people in the area (Florida, 2002).
2.4 Cultural capital
Florida (2002) explains that cities should embrace a creative atmosphere in order to attract and retain human capital in the city (Florida, 2002). It has been claimed that an area with a lot of culture, such as a bohemian atmosphere, leads to an attraction of human capital and other talented people, important to economic growth (Florida, 2002). Moreover, cultural capital involves a cultural value in an asset. Studies like the bohemian index, made by Florida (2002), has shown that the presence of for example designers, actors, painters, artists and
performances affect the cultural life in an area. The index is a measure of the amount of bohemians within a region compared to the total population in that same region. The
bohemians are seen as the producers of cultural and a creative assets. It has been stated to be a strong connection between bohemian presence and the development of new technology and innovations in an area (Florida, 2002).
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2.5 Social capital
Another aspect of regional economic growth has, in recent years, been explained due to the concept of social capital (Darnton & Manning, 2006). The social capital theory is based on the idea that “wealth exists because of an individual’s social relationships” (Lesser, 2000, 4). In other words, it is the interaction and communication between people that creates social capital. Further, social capital consists of people's participation in voluntary organizations, interpersonal trust and reciprocal relationship between human beings within a region. Putnam (1993) states that trust is needed in order for people to interact (Putnam, 1993). Participation of inhabitants in local organizations create a social capital that involves citizens' relations built on trust for other people in society. The trust makes people comfortable in cooperating with each other thus a conviction that other people also are willing to cooperate. Also, close relationships within the local organization system are vital for the democratic functioning.
The more people organized in volunteer networks and organizations such as for example sports clubs, the better the democracy seems to function. Organization of people are not only initiating a better democracy, it has also been stated to raise economic growth within a region (Kumlin & Rothstein, 2001).
However, the idea of social capital being the key to urban economic growth has been challenged. According to a study made by the sociologist Robert Cushing, social capital prevents innovation, which challenge Rothstein’s ideas completely (Darnton & Manning, 2006). Cushing found in his study, that areas with a high level of social capital showed a low level of technological innovation. Societies with high level of social capital seem to lack of diversity, innovation and new technology, factors which, by Florida (2002), encourage creative people to settle and develop their ideas. Consequently, “creative people” are not attracted to these kind of traditional societies (Darnton & Manning, 2006; Florida, 2002).
Accordingly, the human capital theory and Florida's (2002) ideas about the creative class do, according to Cushing's research, cause greater innovation and economic development in regions than societies with high social capital (Darnton & Manning, 2006; Florida, 2002).
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2.6 Concepts explaining retention and migration decisions
Understanding the importance of retaining educated people in cities in order to stimulate regional economic growth, raises the new question: Why do “talents” stay or leave? The answer to this question can be explained and linked to different concepts like quality of place, place attachment, quality of work and quality of life (Florida, 2002; Darchen & Trembley, 2010; Lewicka, 2011). Accordingly, location decisions are based on individual's subjective preferences, vital to evaluate in order for cities to stay competitive (Moilanen & Rainisto, 2009).
2.7 Quality of Place
The concept of quality of place can explain why people choose to locate themselves in a particular place, or as in this paper, why “talents” chooses to remain in their hometown.
Quality of place factors include for example range of restaurants, cultural activities, security, urban and natural environment (Darchen & Trembley, 2010). Earlier studies have, for
example, evaluated whether some factors are more crucial than others when young people are choosing where to stay after graduation (Darchen & Trembley, 2010). The concept of quality of place has been stated, by Florida (2002), to be the most influential factor affecting
“talent’s” location decision making (Florida, 2002). Other research, have compared quality of place to career opportunities and concludes that these factors differ from one city to another.
Meaning that in one city it might be a greater amount of students rating job opportunities as the crucial factors in their location decision, compared to another city where students rate these factors as less important (Darchen & Trembley 2010). In an increasingly competitive environment for cities in the world these concept should be taken into account to stay
competitive (Moilanen & Rainisto, 2009). Additionally, because the theory of quality of place is an elusive concept, studied from different perspectives, it is important to get an
understanding of the whole concept in order to find a model that is applicable in this specific study. Trip (2007), suggests a summarized table of key factors related to the concept, based mostly on Florida's (2002) ideas but also other related studies (Florida, 2002; Trip, 2007).
Florida (2002) uses the term in order to expand the traditional concept of quality of life, and defines the concept as “the unique set of characteristics that define a place and make it attractive” (Florida, 2002, 231).
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Model summarizing key aspects of quality of place (Trip, 1995).
2.7.1 Diversity, Talent, Technology
Florida (2006) claims through his research that the key to economic growth lies in a place's ability to provide and retain the "three Ts": technology, talent and tolerance (Florida, 2006).
Technology and talent are taken into account in this table, explaining the level of innovative climate and numbers of highly educated people. Notable, tolerance and diversity is linked to each other, meaning that a tolerant society “allows for greater diversity in a community:
diversity of backgrounds, skills, and ideas” (Florida et al., 2007, 27).
2.7.2 Specific amenities, Environment sustainability and Aesthetics The concept of quality of place also highlights the importance of “specific amenities”,
“environment” and “aesthetics”. Moreover, the creative class is comprised of many
generations, ethnicity or race (Florida, 2002). This means that there is no single model that is applicable to suit every individual preference, but for example, parks and green areas are things that most people can enjoy and creates good "people climate” (Florida, 2002). Also, the importance of for example jogging trails and traffic-free bike paths are vital and can be
enjoyed by many different people (Florida, 2002).
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However, there are certain specific factors peculiarly essential to the younger generation.
Studies have shown that younger generations are drawn to places that has a lively nightlife and plenty to do (Florida, 2002). Also, street-life culture and music scene are important factors that Florida (2002) also defines down to a city's "coolness" (Florida, 2002).
2.7.4 Creativity, Bohemia
The creative culture within a region has been shown to be of importance. Culture creativity can be measured by a bohemian index that shows the amount of artists, musicians, cultural producers and other creative people within a region (Florida, 2010). A bohemian environment contributes to retention of citizens (Florida, 2002).
2.7.5 Safety
Finally safety are seen as important for the wellbeing of citizens. Safety, as a part of quality of place, includes for example crime rates and perceived safety (Trip, 2007).
2.8 Place attachment
Studies have shown that although mobility and globalization processes, discussed for example by Florida (2002), other researcher claim that place attachment still is an important
component (Floirda 2002; Lewicka, 2010). Place attachment is a complex expression which can be interpreted in many different ways and used in many contexts. A place can be defined as a meaningful location (Cresswell, 2015). Meaning that a place is said to be a space which people are attached to and consider meaningful for themselves in one way or another. The concept of attachment arises mainly from four important variables that are length of residence, mobility, shared meanings and social belonging (Hernández, Hess, Hidalgo &
Salazar-Laplace, 2007). Strong feelings of attachment to places can be related to length of residence in an area, meaning that a person who has lived in a place for a long time is likely to have a strong attachment to that certain area (Lavrakas & Riger, 1981). Further, place
attachment can be explained as an area where people feel comfortable and safe and where they prefer to remain (Hernández, et al., 2007, 310).
Earlier studies show that attachment to places, from young people's perspective, affected them in the extent that they would prefer to live in their home cities for the rest of their lives. The
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reason for this place attachment was mainly because they had family and friends in the surrounding area, which was important for them. The feeling of “knowing everyone” in the area seemed to create a comfort zone and crucial for wanting to remain in that place for life (Green & White, 2007). This is important to take into account and to complement the ideas of quality of place, work and life.
2.9 Quality of work
Another concept discussed to explain location decision making processeses of people is the concept of quality of work. The concept of quality of work “refers to work which is
stimulating and which corresponds to the academic background of the student and to his or her career” (Darchen & Trembley 2010, 228). Accordingly, students’ decisions about where to seek employment can be affected by the quality of work offered in a place (Darchen &
Trembley 2010). It has been stated to be a shift between what economists and sociologists think about this concept. Economists put emphasis on explaining individual migration choices through work opportunities, while sociologists focus more on a place characteristics and potential to match individual preferences. Moreover, a study made on U.S citizens, combining both economic and sociological factors, have come to the conclusion that it is the quality of place retaining people in cities, rather than work opportunities (Florida, Melander & Stolarick, 2011).
2.10 Quality of Life
The term quality of life has been used in many studies by social scientists, marketing agencies and economists. Due to the fact that human capital are extremely "mobile" and want to locate themselves in favourable places, cities must be flexible and responsive to the needs of
capital. Therefore, it is essential that competitive cities try to niche themselves and that "In this respect, there is scope for quality of life to be a factor which assists in the construction of the niche and specifically the attraction and retention of fractions of capital which maintain this niche” (Rogerson, 1998, 970).
In marketing, quality of life is described and viewed as a crucial part to create a competitive city image: “one that is successful in attracting the attention of capital, and the ways in which quality of life factors have been identified as influential in patterns of urban growth and development” (Rogerson, 1998, 969). There are according to earlier studies a correlation
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between capital and quality of life which explains the increasing use of quality of life as a promotional tool to attract people and businesses (Rogerson, 1998). An example where quality of life ratings have been adopted into the city brand is the famous Australian city Melbourne’s slogan “The most liveable city” (Rogerson, 1998, 971).
The concept of quality of life is an elusive concept. Quality of life can explain wellbeing at various levels of society such as for example social, community, individual and group levels. The definitions of quality of life are many, explained both by social or individual perspectives and theoretical models and academic orientations (Felce & Perry, 1995). Quality of life is a concept that can be applied in many different contexts in order to describe
underlying human behaviours, feelings or attitudes. However, it is a term that still has not reached a unified definition, and it is said to be “as many quality of life definitions as people /.../” (Felce & Perry, 1995, 52). This fact complicates the use of the term substantially, as it is difficult to find a common definition. The literature review revealed that the concept
essentially involves two aspects, social indicators and subjective well-being (Diener & Suh, 1997).
Social indicators are measures of the society that reflects people’s objective circumstances in a cultural or geographical area. These indicators are based on objective statistics and are seen as quantitative ways of examining the society. Factors taken in account are for example infant mortality, doctors per capita, homicide rates and police per capita (Diener & Suh, 1997). On the contrary, subjective well-being is explained as the respondents own judgement of well- being and does not take into account what other people think is of importance. Peoples’
reactions to and experiences of the environment and different situations are being evaluated. It is said that subjective well-being consist of the three indicators life satisfaction, pleasant affect and unpleasant affect (Diener & Suh, 1997). Further, it is important that both aspects are taken into account to obtain an accurate picture of quality of life, as both aspects are connected and affected by each other. However, the difference lies in that a social indicator researcher wants to analyse what the outcomes of a certain situation might be, while a subjective well-being researcher wants to know how these outcomes affects peoples’
satisfaction of life and their moods. This report will be based on the later approach in order to evaluate and truly understand a certain target group feelings and attitudes about their
subjective experience of quality of life.
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Model summarizing the key aspects of quality of life (Felce & Perry, 1995)
2.11 Summary - frame of references
The theories and concepts used in this study, is useful in order to explain why young female students choose to remain in their hometown. Indeed, earlier studies have stated these concepts to be of great importance when trying to evaluate individual localisation decision processes. Accordingly, Florida's (2002) idea of the creative class is highly relevant, since the theory shows interesting patterns and analysis about what the creative class value in life (Florida, 2002). The concepts of quality of place, place attachment, quality of work and quality of life will be used in order to explain why the target group choose to stay,
consequently if young female students in Gothenburg differ from earlier studies made on the subject.
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3. METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents used methods in this study, providing an insight in how the data and information have been collected. Also, the choice of respondents are discussed and presented in the section called sample. Additionally, a critical review of selected methods is presented.
3.1 Research method
3.1.1 Qualitative method
The purpose of this study is to examine why “talents” choose to remain in cities. “Talents” are defined as young female students. Furthermore, the target group in this study has been
investigated through a qualitative method. The strength of the qualitative method is that it facilitates the process of understanding the respondents. This, helps to understand how the respondent finds meaning, which in a later stage makes it possible to answer the question
‘why’ they stayed (Silverman, 2013). As the study aims to answer the research question why
“talents” choose to remain in their hometown the choice of a qualitative method was the preferable method. The research approach is an abductive approach where empirical material and theories are linked together in order to find connections between the two (Alvesson &
Sköldberg, 2008).
Furthermore, in order to understand why “talents” choose to remain in their hometown qualitative interviews were carried out. The qualitative method was used in order to get a better understanding of the “talents” life histories (Silverman, 2013). In other words, the aim was to understand the underlying reasons and histories why they chose to stay and not move to another city. In addition, qualitative interviews were carried out to get a proper insight and understanding of the lifestyle of the respondent and to see the world through the respondents’
eyes (Bell & Bryman, 2013).
The focus of the qualitative method is to understand the underlying patterns instead of trying to apply ideas that already exist. The premier object was therefore not to collect information from as many respondents as possible; it was about collecting as comprehensive material as possible (Kaijser & Öhlander, 2011). Comprehensive and well-prepared interviews were
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carried out with the aim to make the respondent feel as comfortable as possible to be able to provide the interviewer with reliable and well-formulated answers.
3.2 Developing the theoretical framework
The theoretical framework was made in order to guide the reader through what has been studied before and how it can be related to this study. The theoretical framework has been developed through the use of secondary data. Secondary data can for example include the use of books and journals and in this study books, databases, search engines and journals have been used to find research related to the research question (Lewis, Saunders & Thornhill, 2009). After finding appropriate information, the framework was constructed.
3.3 Data collection
3.3.1 Primary data
The data collection has been collected through five semi-structured interviews where given questions set the framework, but where the respondents were free to express themselves in their own ways. The semi-structured interviews allowed the respondents to give their own opinions and thoughts without them feeling limited in their responses. The aim of the interviews was to find themes and keywords in the respondents’ answers that could be used for further analysis.
The interviews were face-to-face, one respondent at the time. In business research face-to- face interviews are commonly used (Adams, Hafiz, Raeside & White, 2007). The use of face- to-face interviews was decided to be appropriate as they were aimed to last between 45 minutes and an hour. Telephone interviews have been discussed by Bell and Bryman (2014) not to be of best sort when longer interviews are taking part, as the respondent much easier can end a call compared to end a face-to-face interview (Bell & Bryman, 2014).
The format of the semi-structured interview guide was inspired by Bell and Bryman (2013).
The interview guide was based on research presented in the frame of reference. The interview questions were designed in line with Florida’s (2002) thesis about the creative class (Florida, 2002). Also, the interview questions were designed in line with Darchen’s (2010) study about the retention of Canadian students upon graduation, Lewickas (2011) study about place
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attachment, Trip’s (2007) study about quality of place and Felce’s and Perry’s (1995) study about important factors explaining quality of life (Darchen & Tremley, 2010; Felce & Perry, 1995; Lewicka, 2011; Trip, 2007). The choice of constructing the interview guide based on the theories mentioned was to be able to answer the research question.
3.4 Sample
The aim of the research was, through five semi-structured interviews, to study the attitudes of a very specific group based on given criteria. The respondents were selected by the criterion that they were “talents”. In this study “talents” were limited to young female students 20-25 years old, brought up in the Gothenburg region, studying business or economy at Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law.
“Talents” is a large group of people including different genders, ages and ethnicities with different intentions and preferences in life (Florida, 2002). Young female students are a homogenous group selected from the large group of “talents”. Studying this specific group of
“talents” gives the possibility to come to a conclusion about the reasons why young female students choose to remain in their hometown. At Gothenburg University of Business, Economics and Law about 51 % are females (Handelshögskolan Göteborg, 2014). Female students seem to be overrepresented at Swedish Universities (Alla Studier, 2011). Further, cities with large universities creates great pools of “talents”, accordingly highly filled with females, making the target group highly relevant to study in order for marketing organisations to know how they can retain this group in the city (Florida, 2006; Alla Studier, 2011).
In Sweden, 35 % of the population is said to belong to the “creative class”, including creative professionals and “talents” (Florida et al., 2007). The majority of the “creative class” seem to prefer the urban life, since 60 % of the “creative class” are situated in Stockholms län, Skånes län (Malmö) and the Västra Götalands län (Göteborg). Gothenburg is Sweden’s second largest city and it is constantly increasing, particularly of talents (Florida et al, 2007). This shows the importance of understanding why people choose to remain in Gothenburg. Furthermore, cities with large universities, as Gothenburg University of Business, Economics and Law, creates many “talents”, making the group of young female students highly relevant to the city.
Understanding the group of young female “talents” is of great interest for marketing organisations in cities as they want to retain this group of females in the future (Florida,
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2006). “Talents” are mobile and cities need to take this in account to stay attractive in order to retain these “talents” in the city (Florida, 2006). In a few years the group of talents at
Gothenburg University of Business Economics and Law will be looking for work. However,
“talents” are highly mobile and cities, like Gothenburg, need to stay attractive in order to retain “talents” in the city (Florida, 2006). The city now has the chance to develop from a society based on industrial structure to be more dependent on creative knowledge, which is said to have a positive effect on regional economic growth (Florida et al., 2007).
However, it is also important to point out the negative aspects. This study does not make it possible to come to a conclusion about “talents” with other characteristics within the larger group of “talents”. Also, as the study is limited to investigate young female “talents” in Gothenburg a conclusion about young female “talents” in other parts of Sweden, or the rest of the world for that matter, cannot be made (Bell & Bryman, 2013; Florida, 2002).
Also, it is important that the authors remain impartial to the task and try not to reflect the interview material according to their own preferences. Furthermore, the aim of selecting this homogenous group was to find differences and similarities within the group and compare this group to theories and models presented in the frame of reference.
A common problem for investigators is to estimate the sample size. It is difficult to estimate the amount of people that should be interviewed to have a reliable answer for further
analysing. Unfortunately there are no definite answers to this complex question thus there are many factors affecting the selection of respondents (Bell & Bryman, 2014). It was found that, after five interviews, a theoretical saturation was reached where patterns could be discovered in the respondents’ answers (Bell & Bryman, 2014).
The first group of women contacted was in the writers’ outer acquaintanceship. The respondents were chosen out of a snowball sample where the women first contacted
recommended other young women with similar characteristics to themselves (Bell & Bryman, 2014). The selected respondents were:
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Name Age
Tove 24
Johanna 22
Emma 21
Linn 23
Olivia 22
Own Table: Table 1- Informant characteristics.
3.5 Information evaluation
Qualitative research methods have been criticized, especially for being too subjective, meaning that researchers make their own assessments of what is important to include or not (Bell & Bryman, 2014). Difficulties in replicating the survey, transparency and if the results are representative for other environments and communities have also been discussed (Bryman
& Bell, 2014).
It is important that the questions are correctly formulated to generate representative answers.
Further, it is highly important that the authors stay objective and do not make any own assumptions. Also, it is crucial that the interview questions are not misleading, in order to catch the most essential information important to the study and understand the respondent’s subjective view of the world (Kaijser & Öhlander, 2011).
3.6 Credibility
According to Bell and Bryman (2013) an important way of evaluating qualitative research is the concept of trustworthiness. Trustworthiness includes, among other criteria, the criteria of credibility which has been used thoroughly when evaluating the data collected in this study.
Credibility involves giving the respondents the option to confirm that the researcher
interpreted what he or she said correctly (Bell & Bryman, 2013). The concept of credibility
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has been used when evaluating the material collected from the interviews in this study.
Despite the use of respondent validation, there is no guarantee knowing if all questions asked have been interpreted correctly (Bell & Bryman, 2013) .
The reliability of an interview guide is of great importance. It is very important that each respondent understands the questions in the way it was meant to be interpreted. Furthermore, it is of great importance that the respondent answers can be coded without being
misinterpreted by the interviewer when analysing the material. A pre-testing was made to make sure that the interview guide was designed to fill its purpose. A pre-test of the interview was made with a person matching the criteria of the target group investigated, making sure that the questions asked were correctly understood by the respondent (Silverman, 2011).
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4. EMPIRICAL DATA AND ANALYSIS
This chapter presents the empirical material and an analysis. The empirical material, consisting of the interview material, will be linked to earlier studies and accepted theories, previously presented in the framework. The analysis will highlight key themes and factors and present a comparison to previous studies. Further, the analysis will lead to a conclusion presented in the following chapter.
4.1 Interpersonal relationships
It appeared that interpersonal relations were the major factor influencing the respondent’s choice to stay in their hometown. According to Felce and Perry (1995), interpersonal relationships is highly linked to the concept quality of life, affecting a person's well-being.
Interpersonal relationships include close relations with family, relatives and friends (Felce &
Perry, 1995). These factors appeared to be of great importance to the target group. Firstly when making the decision to stay, keeping them from moving away. Secondly, it appeared that the respondents thought that they will value interpersonal relationships in the future when deciding where to settle, however, in a new light. This, means that interpersonal relations could be taken into account when trying to retain this group of “talents” in Gothenburg.
4.1.1 Family
The majority of the respondents claimed that family was of great importance for their choice to stay in Gothenburg. The majority of the respondents said to have very close relationship with their families, explaining why family was seen as an important factor. It turned out that spending time with family affected the perceived well-being and security, which the theory of quality of life accentuates (Felce & Perry, 1995). One of the respondents, Johanna, explained that she is sharing an apartment with her brother and that he was a major reason for her to stay. “We live together which I love” Johanna explained, stating that she felt satisfied with her situation and that she did not feel like letting it go. Johanna also stated that it is crucial for her to have family in the surrounding areas, living in the same city, to be able to visit them regularly. She claimed that “Feeling supported by my family makes me feel very happy”. It appeared that family conditions, affecting the perceived quality of life or subjective wellbeing
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was reinforced by all of the respondents. From the interviews, close relationships with friends and family was presented to be a major factor for their perceived quality of life (Diener &
Suh, 1997). Furthermore, Tove claimed that “To be surrounded by people that like and love me, you know, to be liked and to be loved, feels very… very important when I think about it”.
She claimed that being loved and appreciated is an important factor. This factor made her stay in Gothenburg in order to be close to her family. Another respondent, Olivia, still lives with her parents and during the interview she said that she feels satisfied with her current situation claiming that “It works, living at my parents place. Sometimes I feel like running away but overall I pretty much feel comfortable with it”. Olivia also explained that “Quality of life for me is to spend a lot of time with my family” which indicated that family means a lot to the respondents, even making them choose to stay in their hometown.
However, family was revealed to be of importance when choosing to remain in Gothenburg, another interesting aspect was presented when asking what the respondents thought they would value as important when choosing where to live in the future. The family aspects was then still seen as a central factor when choosing where to stay, however, in a new light. The idea of building a family seemed to be appearing to the respondents, which made family conditions change to focus on children and the needs of a future partner. Emma, the only respondent who did not mention family as a factor when choosing to stay, suddenly claimed that “We have good conditions here in Sweden with a lot of benefits and those kind of things and for me, it is really important, that the city is good and suitable for my kids”. Also, Linn explained the demand for a city to be good for both her and her partner in the future, “A city needs to be good for me and my future partner and this will influence the choice of city”.
Earlier studies have shown the same relationship between work and family aspects, made on American working people in their 30s. It appeared that people who spend more time with their family seemed to experience a higher level of quality of life, than those who worked more (Collins, Greenhaus & Shaw, 2003). It appeared to be a relationship between individual well-being and family conditions, highly valued by the respondents (Felce &Perry, 1995).
4.1.2 Friends
Darchen and Trembley (2010) presented in their study, career opportunities and social network to be the most important factors for the retention of students in Canada upon
graduation (Darchen & Trembley, 2010). This theory has been challenged by Florida’s (2002) thesis about the “creative class” (Florida, 2002). However, social life is still an important
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factor and needs to be taken into account when explaining why the target group chose to stay.
Friends and social life was found through the interviews to be of great importance for the respondents when choosing to stay in Gothenburg. Olivia explained:”I’m not in love with Gothenburg in particular but I like what’s in it, my friends and family”. She meant that it wasn’t the city itself that was the reason she wanted to stay, it was the people in it that made her wanting to stay. Furthermore, Linn claimed that it was the happiness and joy that her friends contributed with that made her wanting to stay. “The people who increases my quality of life are the people I want to spend time with” In addition Linn explained: “spending time with friends is even more important than spending time with my family”. According to Felce’s and Perry’s (1995) model of important quality of life factors, social well-being is a part of quality of life and includes a person’s interpersonal relationships with his or hers circle of friends (Felce & Perry, 1995), meaning that the relationship a person has to friends and family are of great importance for their perceived quality of life.
4.2 Urban amenities
Darchen and Trembley (2010) shows in their study, where they compare quality of place factors with career opportunities, that career opportunities was by far the most important factor for the retention of students in Canada upon graduation (Darchen and Trembley, 2010).
On the other hand, Florida (2002) presents, in his study of US citizens, that quality of place factors compared to quality of work factors, are of greater importance when it comes to attracting people within the “creative class” to cities (Florida, 2002). Analysing the interview material, a similar result to Florida’s (2002) research was found (Florida, 2002). Linn
explained that:
“For me…work is important…and I want to work at an international company in the future, maybe in Spain. I spent one semester in Barcelona and I could definitely live there, that city has everything!
But I would never take a job in a place if I could not have a good life there… like if my dream job was offered to me but located in Siberia, I would never take it haha… for sure. “ (Linn)
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A study made by Trip (2007), mainly based on Florida’s (2002) ideas, shows that specific amenities are seen as an important factors, from the “creative class” point of view, when choosing a city to settle. (Florida, 2002; Trip, 2007). This was also found to be of great importance among the respondents. Linn explained “Gothenburg is charming, not too many people but on the other hand not few, a mix of nightlife, cafés and adventures”. Also, she expressed that there is something for everyone “/.../ bars, nightlife, there is much choice, you can choose… cosy quarter taverns, hipster areas or fancy areas”. Johanna also highlighted the importance of living in a large city with a “liveable vibe”. Also, Tove expressed that "It’s a nice vibe here" and explained Gothenburg by using the Swedish word “lagom”, meaning that Gothenburg is the perfect size:
“You know, Gothenburg is a nice city, not too big but also not too small” she explained and continued. “What I like, because I grew up here, is that you can run into people that you know, but you still don’t know everyone. I think that is a perfect balance of this city”. (Tove)
As understood from the interviews Gothenburg's “cool vibe” was a reason why some of the respondents chose to stay in Gothenburg. In line with this, studies have stated that younger generations are attracted by places that has a lively nightlife and plenty to offer (Florida, 2002). Also, street-life culture and music events are important factors that Florida (2002) defines as a city's "coolness" (Florida, 2002). Additionally, in the future, Johanna explained that when she is her thirties she still wants to stay “cool” and live in a lively city:
“When I’m thirty I still want be, you know cool, and have a list on the fridge with pubs and bars that I want to tick off… I think, in one way, that I always want to live in a big city, this size or bigger” (Johanna)
In line with this, Tove expressed that she likes how easily she can get around town by bike everywhere, which makes her appreciate Gothenburg:
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“The thing is that you can cycle everywhere, maybe the bike paths could have been better, but… on the other hand, they are ok. And also, if I’m out late on a weekend night then I can always walk back home, which is nice.” (Tove)
The environmental factor appeared to be of great importance when the respondents decided to stay in Gothenburg. Similar to Trip’s (2007) results where he shows that natural environments assets, environmental quality and specific amenities are important factors when attracting the
“creative class” (Trip, 2007). Further, the respondents answers can be linked to Florida’s (2002) thesis about the “creative class”, in particular “talents”, being attracted to liveable places that has a lot to offer (Florida, 2002).
4.3 Safety
It also appeared that the safety aspect was of great importance when the respondents chose to stay in Gothenburg. This aspect appeared to involve different views, linking safety to other mentioned factors like family and diversity.
Olivia was one of the respondents who linked safety to the presence of her relatives. She claimed that: “It feel safe here, I have my friends, family and routines here”, which makes her feel safe. Olivia related the concept to the fact that she has her family and friends here, which she also claimed affects her subjective well-being. Furthermore, other respondents agreed with the fact that safety influenced their choice to stay. Emma explained that “It’s important that I feel safe when I’m at home, that I can let go of everything... to be able to eat and sleep in peace and quiet”. She meant that having a stable life situation and somewhere to come home to where she feels safe is important.
Also, the safety aspect seemed to be linked to the concept of place attachment, because they grew up here. Nevertheless, place attachment, fairly mentioned by Florida and other
researchers, seem to be complementary to explain the respondents’ opinions in this study.
This concepts should also be emphasised as it explains an area where people feel safe and want to remain (Hernandez, 2007). Linn says that“The areas of Långedrag and Saltholmen makes me feel safe and calm. Because I grew up there and usually spend time there in the summer”. Further, Johanna also links security to place attachment, and quality of place, and
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says with a smile that "You know where stuff is, for example where to find the best Gin and Tonic".
On the contrary, Johanna was the only one that expressed that she sometimes feels insecure in Gothenburg, showing a negative aspect of the safety factor. She said that "Overall I feel safe, but one must be careful not to expose yourself to much. There are major areas of risk than others." However, this is something that the other respondents contradicts. Emma said that
"It's safe and it’s open, there is not much danger. I am easily frightened but I still feel safe here." Tove, again, summed it up by adding “I feel safest in Gothenburg - where I have everything, and sort of know what I can do!".
On the other hand, Tove suggested a unique aspect to safety and the connection to why she chose to retain in Gothenburg. According to Tove, an equal society and freedom are important in order to live a good life. She has been traveling a lot and at the age of seventeen she spend one year abroad in Argentina. Further, she explained that this experience made her realize how much she appreciates the safe feeling in Gothenburg,“I love the feeling of not wanting to run away from this place. You don’t know what you have until you miss it”. Moreover this is explained by her passion for equality and diversity, factors which Florida et al. (2007)
highlights in the concept quality of place. He claims that tolerance and diversity in a place are factors which the “creative class” is drawn to, making them feel inspired to settle down and develop their ideas (Florida et al., 2007). Tove embodies this theory completely, claiming that:
“Equality is very important to me. I react very strongly to sexism and things like that, and I have noticed that Sweden does not have a lot of it compared to other countries… And that is one thing that could, for sure, make me stay in Sweden forever because I wouldn’t be able to live in a non-equal culture… anti-sexism in fact is very important”.
(Tove)
Nevertheless, it appeared that in the future, the safety aspect gained a further feature, namely the importance of social safety nets. According to the respondents, all of them highlighted good access to social safety nets within the society, when choosing where to settle in the future. Accordingly, factors such as health care and schools, were highlighted by the respondent Johanna:
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“I’ve been thinking about moving abroad in the future, maybe to Australia or Asia… I’ve read a lot and it has been a lot of research about liveable cities and they list for example Vancouver or
Switzerland and there they have political stability and equal salaries and that’s important.” (Johanna)
An interesting shift regarding the safety aspect when choosing where to settle was found. The respondent’s choice of staying today seemed to be based on factors related to subjective wellbeing, that is, the individual experience of wellbeing, for example having your family and friends around you (Diener & Suh, 1997). However, in the future, the safety aspects seemed to shift towards another aspect of quality of life named social indicators. Social indicators involves, for instance, crime rates and doctors per capita (Diener & Suh, 2007). The shift from the subjective experience, to prioritising family condition, is something which destination marketing agencies should take into account, in order to retain this group of talented young females in the future. Indeed, the importance of social safety nets were related to the idea of starting a family. Olivia explained that “When I have children, it must be safe for them”
which Emma confirmed, stating that Gothenburg is the perfect place for children because it is safe. As she has had the experience of the city she explained "I have grown up here, and I want to give the same safe childhood that I experienced." This factor, linked to security and social safety nets, was claimed by the majority of respondents to be the most significant factor, important to them in the future.
4.4 Education and Career
Education was found to be an important factor when the respondents chose to remain in Gothenburg. Emma explained that being accepted to Gothenburg University of Business Economics and Law, was a major reason why she stayed. Furthermore, Linn explained:
“I knew that Gothenburg School of Economics and Law had a good reputation and that it is well known for having a qualified education, also studying at this school builds a strong platform for my future life”
(Linn)
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Also, feeling comfortable in school was seen as important. Emma explained:
“At this very moment it is school that is important, because you spend a lot of time there, and it is important that you feel comfortable with it as well… that you feel comfortable with your whole situation is important.” (Emma)
According to Felce’s and Perry’s (1995) model of the key aspects of quality of life, they state that an important factor for a person’s quality of life is education. Meaning that education is linked to development and activity highlighting the importance of feeling competent which both Emma and Linn shows through being dedicated to their school work (Felce & Perry, 1995).
Also, earlier studies has shown that quality of place factors has been valued more important than career opportunities by “talents” (Trip, 2007; Florida, 2002). Tove explains that:
“When I’m thirty five and about to build a family I don’t want to live in a big city as Stockholm where it’s really expensive... or
Copenhagen, which is in a nice city, but might not be perfect in all kind of ways… for example I want my kids to be able to go to a Swedish school.” (Tove)
In line with Florida’s (2002) research, from the interviews it appeared that career
opportunities were seen as important factor when choosing to stay, however, not valued by the respondents to be more important than quality of place factors (Florida, 2002).
4.5 Activities
Activities and leisure was found to be important when making the choice to stay in Gothenburg. Olivia explained:
“At the time when I choosed to stay, I think the major factor was that I felt I had that much left here, I played a lot of basket ball… so at that
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time, basket ball was the most important reason why I stayed…
because I though I would continue with that.” (Olivia)
Felce and Perry (1995) mention, in their model, that community activities and the level of community support within a region are seen as important parts of peoples’ quality of life (Felce & Perry, 1995). As understood from Olivia’s interview, the basketball community was a major reason why she decided to stay in Gothenburg.
Linn explained that she wants to live in a city with activities that are opening up for a social life. “I want to live in a vibrant city that opens up for an active social life”.
Trip (2007) explains, with his quality of place model, that specific amenities including individual sport facilities, recreation areas, public spaces among others are places people enjoy. According to him people enjoy these places because they create a good “people climate” (Trip, 2007). Additionally, according to Felce’s and Perry’s (1995) quality of life model, leisure and hobbies, as part of a personal development and activity in life, seem to to affect a person’s satisfaction of life (Felce & Perry, 1995).
It seems like the “creative class”, including the “talents” in this study, value activities and events, both in order to do outdoor activities and socialise in cafes and bars, which attracts them to a place (Florida, 2002).
4.6 Independence and self-fulfilment
Feeling independent and achieve self-fulfilment, was found to be of value to the respondents, affecting their choice to stay. Emma stated that “A lot of my friends moved to Lund but I didn’t want to follow... I wanted to do my own thing here in Gothenburg”, meaning that an important factor why she stayed was that she did want to follow her friends. In much the same way, Florida (2002) explains in his research that the “creative class”, desires individuality and being able to carry out inner desires (Florida, 2002). Meaning that the creative people, want to break free from standard norms, as the ones created by the inner social circle (Florida, 2002).
For Emma, staying in Gothenburg was taking a chance to create her own life since her close friends moved away. For her, staying in Gothenburg opened up new ways for her to go her own way, when her friends decided to create their life in a new city.
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It appeared that having control and feeling free to make their own choices in life, seemed to be a recurring theme. Indeed, this shows that the respondents are all independent women who know what they want. Further, the majority of the respondents explained themselves to be
“ambitious”, indicating that the respondents may differ in some ways but generally share the same characteristics. Accordingly, one of the respondents, Tove, explained that she wants to have the ability to choose what she wants to do herself, which for her is life quality. She explained that “Quality of life is the freedom to decide what I want to do with my life. I want to choose and don’t want anyone to force and stress me into something I don’t want to do”.
According to Tove, this is linked to activities that stimulates her personality:
“I want to do things that are developing, maybe work somewhere where I have to work a lot but learn a lot of things at the same time, or chose not to work…or maybe read a lot, write or dance... to simply do things that are developing.” (Tove)
This factor was also embodied by Johanna who explained that the things she does in life have to have a meaning. She stated that “Your occupation... that you do something you feel is meaningful and that you follow the line from that is important... that you can develop yourself or choose other ways if you want to”. In line with the respondents answers, fulfilment, control and freedom seem to be important to the respondent’s general emotional well-being.
Literature suggest that these factors are highly linked to the concept of quality of life, which has been stated to be a factor affecting individual retention or migration decision (Felce &
Perry, 1995; Rogerson, 1998). However, Florida (2002) mainly highlights quality of place to be the key to the “creative class” when choosing where to stay. He claims that quality of life factors are not as important as quality of place factors (Florida, 2002). In line with our respondents’ answers, it is clear that quality of place is a major factor. However, quality of life factors also was highly valued when deciding to remain. This indicates that according to young female students in Gothenburg, quality of place and quality of life factors collide and affect each other, both making them retain in Gothenburg.
